Industry Live™
Session 03 : State Sales Tax Changes + Solveras Interview
[video]
Transcript:
[music]
Announcer: Red Cheetah, Building Generations of Stronger Dealers.
Andrew Morgan: Welcome to Industry Live. It is May 21, 2010.
Steve Kahle: Time flies.
Andrew: I'm Andrew Morgan. This is...
Steve: Steve Kahle.
Andrew: Steve "Fatty" Kahle, and we are in Austin, Texas, on a beautiful, pretty summer day. It's supposed to be 93 degrees today, heat index of 99. So maybe you'll sweat some of that off.
Launching right into Industry News. Steve tell us a little bit about what's going on with these horrendous sales tax changes that are sweeping the country.
Steve: Well Andrew it's a mess. I think overall we're seeing a lot of changes in California and Colorado. We've got Washington making changes. There's actually 14 states. And what's happening is you're seeing, relative to the economy, a lot of these state coffers, they're seeing their sales tax revenue drop off.
They are looking at ways to get that money back, and one of the ways they're looking at is through e-commerce. And you see companies like Amazon that are able to capture a lot of market share because when you buy from Amazon you're typically not being charged sales tax.
And so what's happening now is states are requiring, for example, wholesalers, when they're drop shipping in, to say California or Colorado, that sales tax is being added, which creates a big challenge for the dealer.
Andrew: It does. What are some ways that the dealer might be able to handle these changes? Because what you're describing is a tremendous increase in the total cost of that order.
Steve: Right.
Andrew: What are some ways they're handling that?
Steve: Well, options, the actual dealer can do one of two things. One, which is very tough to think about, is just to absorb the cost, which in most cases is not going to be an option. The other option is to basically manually figure out what that sales tax item is and add it into an invoice. And right now it's not a very elegant solution.
And the key thing is, Andrew, that what we're working on with our wholesale partners, and we're going to see this continually evolve, is we're going to want to make sure we can make the process as easy as possible for the dealers.
The challenge right now is you've got 14 states that are trying to do things a little bit different. And hopefully we'll see some degree f consolidation and some degree of standardization so that we can figure out a way that the end dealer can really easily pass along that tax.
Andrew: Now, share with us a list of these states that if a dealer is doing business in these states or drop shipping out of these states, that they might be able to contact their state comptroller or sales tax authority to figure out the latest.
Steve: Yes, good question. Definitely Colorado is going to be a big one, California as well, Tennessee, Washington, those are the ones that are in the forefront. And you've got about another 10 states as well that are saying "Hey, I want a piece of the pie as well." So, definitely I'd start off with Colorado, Tennessee, California and Washington. And then I will also be publishing more notes as well to keep our dealers apprised.
Andrew: Now do we know if this is a bulk sales tax item, or is this a line item sales tax? I'm not sure and I think each state might be handling that differently. Is that correct?
Steve: Right. It appears there is some variance. Again back to the point is what we really need is a standardized way to handle this. You know that the National Federation of Retailers is getting together and they're really getting behind and pushing some standardization for policy change.
But I think overall, I think the good news is there's a lot of momentum on Capitol Hill. They realize that we need to do something and it needs to be more of a 50 state solution versus a state-by-state solution.
Andrew: So again to recap. If the dealer is utilizing or shipping from these states, they need to get with their comptroller or sales tax authority, and then potentially get with their dealer/adviser here to see what might be the best way to handle that. Is that correct?
Steve: Correct. I think also, too, involving the wholesaler rep is going to be a good idea. That way you got a really strong idea.And I think the key thing here is, everybody, all our dealer community leaders, need to stay very apprised of sales tax. Because you don't want to get on the ugly part of this where you're not charging them the tax and you then absorb it. It can be lots of money that adds up very quickly.
Andrew: Now does this also put more of an emphasis on the use tax certificate or the tax exempt certificate that these dealers might need to have on file for some of the end users that they're selling to? And I guess we don't know yet how that's going to work if the wholesaler charges me sales tax for a shipment that's going to a non-taxed entity. And I don't believe we even have the answers for that yet, do we?
Steve: We don't. And I think also a really key thing, and I can speak personally about this having gone through a recent sales tax audit, that it's very important that for any dealer that actually has a customer, there is a non profit. To, number one, verify that, in effect, they are exempt from sales tax. And very importantly, to have that certificate on hand before you disallow sales tax.
So, basically, charge sales tax regardless even for non profit, because some are not exempt from sales tax, unless you have that certificate. That is a very, very important lesson that I have learned.
Andrew: Now, from your experience, if you don't get that sales exempt certificate, charge them tax and when they do provide it, you can provide a refund without there be reclamation.
Andrew: Well, sounds like a lot of changes that are on horizon for the dealers. That doesn't sound like a lot of fun. So again, check with your you stay control your sales tax authorities, your dealer advisers, your wholesaler reps and will, I am sure, will come up again in the future.
Steve: I think also, we are going to do a really good push on really educating our dealers, and we know more information. So, we are going to be blogging about it, definitely check out our dealer forum. We will be definitely pushing any new business information we are going to be getting as well.
[music]
Andrew: And now, we are going to talk to Madeline at Solveras. Solveras is our preferred credit card winner, they are a fantastic addition to Red Cheetah platform and Red Cheetah family. So, Madeline, welcome to Industry live.
Madeline: Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for me. I'm thrilled to be here.
Andrew: Very nice to be able to take the time to be with us. So, Madeline, if you would tell us little bit of the background and Solveras and the Red Cheetah partnership from your perspective.
Madeline: Sure, first introduction was on October of 2007, actually one of my favorites dealer called me one day, he has been online for a couple of years told me he was going to start using this new software, called Red Cheetah . And since he was not leaving me in any circumstance, I had to find out a way I could work with this new software.
First thing, I had to repeat, "You are using what?" And he said, "Red Cheetah," and I finally had him spell it for me, to make sure I heard him correctly. I made a call to his dealer adviser found, found out a common thread.
And then I kind of started digging, did some research on Red Cheetah. I thought, "My gosh, there are lot like us." They kind of have the same thought process, we are all trying to accomplish some to the same thing, we are in different kind of industry. I started poking around with my boss. "Why can't we do this for them? Why can't, we work in this capacity when we were such a superior option to what you had at the time." I am sorry, I probably shouldn't say that, but we were.
Andrew: Why you became the preferred.
Madeline: So, my boss encouraged me to reach out, then I poked around and finally got, somebody who would talk to me over there about something other than a different gateway. And a couple of month's later of course, Andrew flew up and got me to everybody in Nashville. Brian, we have been working hand in hand, ever since, for dealers, from our integrated processing, rolling out our electronic check acceptance, you know couple of months down the road, and then also we have been working on PCI compliance.
Andrew: Now Madeline, just to kind of recap what you said... Obviously very good similarity between the companies, very customer-centric, very results driven and secondly that basically all good things because of Red Cheetah or because of Andrew Morgan. Is that what I heard? Is that correct?
Madeline: I am so sure that exactly what I said I just said that in way too many words.
[laughter] .
Andrew: You know what, I would just like to get it back to the focus of compliance, just making sure...
Madeline: And we are back here.
Andrew: Tell us little bit about, where we are with PCI compliance, what it means for the dealers, where is that right now.
Madeline: Sure. Of course, the latest is the July 1st deadline that the card associations have rolled out. The card associations being, VISA, Master card, Amex and Discover. First time in history, they all four come together, to make decisions together. And basically that deadline is stipulating that any business that processes, stores any kind of credit card information. Which would mean any of our dealers that have a merchant id number must maintain a secure environment for their costumers' credit card data, and that they must attest their PCI compliance.
Andrew: OK. What does that all entail for the dealer themselves to do, in utilizing a system like Red Cheetah?
Madeline: First thing is, one of the great things... You all have worked to become PCI compliant. I'm going to kind of take two steps up from that, just to kind of let you know that it's not just what the dealer had to do. The banks have to attach their PCI compliance. Solveras has to prove their PCI compliance. Any piece of equipment, software, gateway that a merchant would use, they have to prove their PCI compliance.
And so in this trickle-down effect, over many, many years now, we are now down to the merchant level. So the merchant has also got to prove to their processing bank, whoever they're using, that they are PCI compliant, because all of those banks have to report back to the card associations on a monthly basis.
There are multiple steps involved with PCI compliance. One, you've got to determine your merchant level. Secondly, you've got to figure out your validation type, figure out which questionnaire you actually have to answer in order to fill out the appropriate questionnaire. Get that questionnaire filled out. Once you've done that, you may or may not be needing to do a venerability scan.
It kind of depends on how you're taking cards, what's going on there. If you're just using a terminal sitting out on a desk and customers are walking in, that's one kind of compliance issue. If you're actually taking cards over the Internet, through a software, that's a different set of rules and regs. And then sometimes, at that point, you may have to actually submit an attestation of compliance.
So you can't do kind of a broad-range, "Everybody's gotta do the same thing". There are steps you go through. You've got to determine each one as you go down the line, and then follow whichever set of regulations you fall into once that previous step has been determined.
Andrew: OK. Well, Madeline, thank you very much for your continued partnership and dedication to the Red Cheetah environment and the Red Cheetah dealers. We absolutely love having you as a partner. We value what you do for our dealers and thank you very much for the time today.
Madeline: Thank you for having me.
Steve: Thank you, Madeline.
Madeline: Thanks.
[music]
Steve: Let's move on into...
Andrew: Let's move on into what? What's new at Red Cheetah?
Steve: Let's do that.
Andrew: Tell me a little about Outpost. Where are we with that?
Steve: So, Outpost is about six months behind schedule. We want to go ahead and be upfront about that. Actually, just kidding. We're looking...
Andrew: Should be sometime in 2015.
Steve: Yeah, Andrew has told all of our programmers that if they don't make the December 1st deadline, that they should be looking for other employment, so it's real serious.
Andrew: I've only blown up one car so far. Just a threat.
Steve: Yeah.
Andrew: I mean, it was an accident.
Steve: Well, you caught a few tires on fire as well. It was pretty intimidating.
Andrew: I mean, there's accidentally glass in the parking garage. I can't help that.
[laughter]
Steve: Well, overall, we are all as a team behind this. It's not just the programming team. We also have, like John Mattson for example, who handles all of our support videos. He's going to be actively involved. I mean, Brian Ernst, on the system director's side. Our dealer adviser is Jim Rowan, being a part of that and also our dealer community, that all will be involved in helping us roll this thing out in a very pragmatic fashion.
But overall, we're still looking very good for December 1st. We're behind it. Our time-lines show that we are on target and we'll continue to try to even get ahead of that time-line to make sure that there's some buffer, but we're good so far on December 1st and we'll keep our dealer community posted.
Andrew: I believe I'm the only one here who actually has nothing to do with it.
Steve: Which will help us actually achieve that goal. So I think overall that's a good thing.
Andrew: It is.
Steve: So, dealer community...
Andrew: You're welcome.
Steve: You can feel a lot better. There you go.
[laughter]
Andrew: I'm here for the community.
Steve: Yeah, you are.
Andrew: Or, in this case, not there.
Steve: And the community.
Andrew: For the community. Yeah. A very, very exciting launch of www.Coalition360.com. Where are we with that?
Steve: So, we're launching, all I can say is, very, very soon. We actually have to, because we actually have some print ads going out with a lot of links back to the site. So, overall we're very excited. All this energy from Coalition is going to kind of be captured on the site. We thought it would make a lot of sense, rather than build it into www.RedCheetah.com. Let's do it completely separate.
Andrew: Now for our new viewers or anyone who hasn't been exposed to Coalition, maybe a little recap to the dealers that are listening. What is Coalition?
Steve: So Coalition is an awesome gathering of our dealers, in a format that's different. We really tried to take a different tact when it comes to how we educate. Certainly a dealer coming to Coalition is going to learn a lot about Red Cheetah.
Andrew: Right.
Steve: They're going to learn a lot about the capabilities, what's coming down the pipeline. But also, too, we've spent a lot of time coming up with workshops that will give our dealers the benefit of going right back to their dealership and implementing new ideas.
For example, we're definitely talking a lot about cultural engineering, looking at how dealers can really engineer their culture to outlive themselves. We're going to be talking about leadership 2.0. We're going to be talking about how to use LinkedIn to bolster our dealer's individual brands and, in addition too, their dealership brands.
So, overall, we're all about helping build generations of stronger dealers, and we feel that the way we're going at it is helping. And we're learning a lot. And this will be, what, number three?
Andrew: This will be number three.
Steve: Right. So we're excited about it. What are the dates?
Andrew: February two, three and four...
Steve: Right.
Andrew: ...Here in Austin, Texas. The worldwide conglomerate, nationwide, international headquarters...
Steve: That's right.
Andrew: ...Of Red Cheetah. So it's going to be an exciting...
Steve: It's exciting. And definitely check out the videos. I think the videos with our dealers talking about their Coalition experience says it all.
Andrew: And that's going to be on www.Coalition360.com as well as www.RedCheetah.com or is that just going to be on the Coalition site?
Steve: Yeah, it's going to be on Coalition, Andrew. And we're going to basically have pictures from Coalition '09 and also Coalition '10. We're also going to be having all the information about Coalition '11, as you mentioned February 2nd, 3rd, and 4th.
Andrew: 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, correct.
Steve: We'll be there as well.
Andrew: That's 2011.
Steve: Yeah. And so our dealers can very easily log in and register and be a part of the action. It's a lot of fun. Guaranteed.
Andrew: Very nice. It's going to be a good time.
Steve: Where are our upcoming conferences? What's happening?
Andrew: Well, I know we're going to be at the IS group meeting June 2nd through the 4th.
Steve: Right.
Andrew: I believe in Denver, Colorado. Mark Camp, our oldest sales rep, both by age and tenure...
[laughter]
Steve: I just got to appreciate that.
Andrew: Love you Mark. Mark's 29.
Steve: He's really 34.
Andrew: Not in the waist.
[laughter]
Steve: And more good shots. I'm sorry, Mark. You had the fat jokes are now extended to you as well. Welcome to the club.
Andrew: Exactly. Bull talk for a man that has a thinner waist than me. But anyway. The one after that is the S.P. Richards Advantage Business Conference. This is one of our most anticipated and highly, highly exciting shows that we go to every year. S.P. and Elaine Bragg-Dylan and D. King put on just a heck of a show.
Steve: They do.
Andrew: And treat us much better than we should be treated, at least in your case. So that's in Miami, the end of June. I believe the 23rd through the 25th or the 26th, around that time-frame.
Steve: 23rd through the 27th?
Andrew: Correct. And then Recharger, into the IT consumables. That's always in Las Vegas in around the middle of July, I believe the 14th and the 15th. So, we'll send a number of folks to that two-day show as well. So we really are pushing into the IT consumables world, working on a number of things for transactional managed print. Some really exciting things that you'll see coming down the pipeline here pretty soon.
Steve: That reminds me, too. Our integration with e-automate. We're reporting some really good news there. We're looking at, by August, really taking our integration to the next level. So, we'll be working very hard with the e-automate team there and Digital Gateway in Utah. And we're grateful that...
Andrew: Provo.
Steve: Provo, there you go. Great skiing options around that neck of the woods. Beautiful country.
Andrew: I have a business partner there that took me skiing with a blown out back one time.
Steve: Yeah, well, you insisted on skiing with a blown out back.
Andrew: I'm just saying.
Steve: That's Andrew when he's pegged. And also, too, when you decided to wrestle and you almost killed me putting snow in my face.
Andrew: The only problem with that story is the almost part. I had a moment of regret. I don't know why, folks, I'm sorry. Yeah, a little more snow and just a few more seconds.
Steve: Andrew is like skiing with my kid. You've got to be on guard. You never want to Andrew skiing behind you because he will form tackle you at 30 miles per hour.
Andrew: Skiing is a contact sport.
Steve: Yeah, and poles are used for defense.
Andrew: Or weapons, either way.
Steve: Yeah. So, note to self, never go skiing with Andrew.
Andrew: Exactly.
Steve: You'll live longer.
[laughter]
All right, so what's our joke of the month? Do you have one?
Andrew: Joke of the month.
Steve: Is it a clean joke, Andrew? It's important.
Andrew: I don't believe I know any clean jokes.
Steve: This is a PG-13 audience.
Andrew: So, these two muffins in the microwave.
Steve: OK.
Andrew: And it's starting to get really, really, really hot in there. And it's been quite some time and all of a sudden...
Steve: What kind of muffins?
Andrew: I believe they're blueberry.
Steve: OK, good.
Andrew: And one looks over at the other one and goes, "My gosh, it's hot in here." The other one looks over and goes, "Oh my god, a talking muffin!"
[laughter]
Steve: All right. Well, that wraps up Industry Live with the most ridiculous joke...
Andrew: That's a pretty good joke.
Steve: Whatever, but it's clean. We'll see you next time.
Andrew: Thanks.
[music]
Announcer: Red Cheetah, Building Generations of Stronger Dealers.
Andrew Morgan: Welcome to Industry Live. It is May 21, 2010.
Steve Kahle: Time flies.
Andrew: I'm Andrew Morgan. This is...
Steve: Steve Kahle.
Andrew: Steve "Fatty" Kahle, and we are in Austin, Texas, on a beautiful, pretty summer day. It's supposed to be 93 degrees today, heat index of 99. So maybe you'll sweat some of that off.
Launching right into Industry News. Steve tell us a little bit about what's going on with these horrendous sales tax changes that are sweeping the country.
Steve: Well Andrew it's a mess. I think overall we're seeing a lot of changes in California and Colorado. We've got Washington making changes. There's actually 14 states. And what's happening is you're seeing, relative to the economy, a lot of these state coffers, they're seeing their sales tax revenue drop off.
They are looking at ways to get that money back, and one of the ways they're looking at is through e-commerce. And you see companies like Amazon that are able to capture a lot of market share because when you buy from Amazon you're typically not being charged sales tax.
And so what's happening now is states are requiring, for example, wholesalers, when they're drop shipping in, to say California or Colorado, that sales tax is being added, which creates a big challenge for the dealer.
Andrew: It does. What are some ways that the dealer might be able to handle these changes? Because what you're describing is a tremendous increase in the total cost of that order.
Steve: Right.
Andrew: What are some ways they're handling that?
Steve: Well, options, the actual dealer can do one of two things. One, which is very tough to think about, is just to absorb the cost, which in most cases is not going to be an option. The other option is to basically manually figure out what that sales tax item is and add it into an invoice. And right now it's not a very elegant solution.
And the key thing is, Andrew, that what we're working on with our wholesale partners, and we're going to see this continually evolve, is we're going to want to make sure we can make the process as easy as possible for the dealers.
The challenge right now is you've got 14 states that are trying to do things a little bit different. And hopefully we'll see some degree f consolidation and some degree of standardization so that we can figure out a way that the end dealer can really easily pass along that tax.
Andrew: Now, share with us a list of these states that if a dealer is doing business in these states or drop shipping out of these states, that they might be able to contact their state comptroller or sales tax authority to figure out the latest.
Steve: Yes, good question. Definitely Colorado is going to be a big one, California as well, Tennessee, Washington, those are the ones that are in the forefront. And you've got about another 10 states as well that are saying "Hey, I want a piece of the pie as well." So, definitely I'd start off with Colorado, Tennessee, California and Washington. And then I will also be publishing more notes as well to keep our dealers apprised.
Andrew: Now do we know if this is a bulk sales tax item, or is this a line item sales tax? I'm not sure and I think each state might be handling that differently. Is that correct?
Steve: Right. It appears there is some variance. Again back to the point is what we really need is a standardized way to handle this. You know that the National Federation of Retailers is getting together and they're really getting behind and pushing some standardization for policy change.
But I think overall, I think the good news is there's a lot of momentum on Capitol Hill. They realize that we need to do something and it needs to be more of a 50 state solution versus a state-by-state solution.
Andrew: So again to recap. If the dealer is utilizing or shipping from these states, they need to get with their comptroller or sales tax authority, and then potentially get with their dealer/adviser here to see what might be the best way to handle that. Is that correct?
Steve: Correct. I think also, too, involving the wholesaler rep is going to be a good idea. That way you got a really strong idea.And I think the key thing here is, everybody, all our dealer community leaders, need to stay very apprised of sales tax. Because you don't want to get on the ugly part of this where you're not charging them the tax and you then absorb it. It can be lots of money that adds up very quickly.
Andrew: Now does this also put more of an emphasis on the use tax certificate or the tax exempt certificate that these dealers might need to have on file for some of the end users that they're selling to? And I guess we don't know yet how that's going to work if the wholesaler charges me sales tax for a shipment that's going to a non-taxed entity. And I don't believe we even have the answers for that yet, do we?
Steve: We don't. And I think also a really key thing, and I can speak personally about this having gone through a recent sales tax audit, that it's very important that for any dealer that actually has a customer, there is a non profit. To, number one, verify that, in effect, they are exempt from sales tax. And very importantly, to have that certificate on hand before you disallow sales tax.
So, basically, charge sales tax regardless even for non profit, because some are not exempt from sales tax, unless you have that certificate. That is a very, very important lesson that I have learned.
Andrew: Now, from your experience, if you don't get that sales exempt certificate, charge them tax and when they do provide it, you can provide a refund without there be reclamation.
Andrew: Well, sounds like a lot of changes that are on horizon for the dealers. That doesn't sound like a lot of fun. So again, check with your you stay control your sales tax authorities, your dealer advisers, your wholesaler reps and will, I am sure, will come up again in the future.
Steve: I think also, we are going to do a really good push on really educating our dealers, and we know more information. So, we are going to be blogging about it, definitely check out our dealer forum. We will be definitely pushing any new business information we are going to be getting as well.
[music]
Andrew: And now, we are going to talk to Madeline at Solveras. Solveras is our preferred credit card winner, they are a fantastic addition to Red Cheetah platform and Red Cheetah family. So, Madeline, welcome to Industry live.
Madeline: Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for me. I'm thrilled to be here.
Andrew: Very nice to be able to take the time to be with us. So, Madeline, if you would tell us little bit of the background and Solveras and the Red Cheetah partnership from your perspective.
Madeline: Sure, first introduction was on October of 2007, actually one of my favorites dealer called me one day, he has been online for a couple of years told me he was going to start using this new software, called Red Cheetah . And since he was not leaving me in any circumstance, I had to find out a way I could work with this new software.
First thing, I had to repeat, "You are using what?" And he said, "Red Cheetah," and I finally had him spell it for me, to make sure I heard him correctly. I made a call to his dealer adviser found, found out a common thread.
And then I kind of started digging, did some research on Red Cheetah. I thought, "My gosh, there are lot like us." They kind of have the same thought process, we are all trying to accomplish some to the same thing, we are in different kind of industry. I started poking around with my boss. "Why can't we do this for them? Why can't, we work in this capacity when we were such a superior option to what you had at the time." I am sorry, I probably shouldn't say that, but we were.
Andrew: Why you became the preferred.
Madeline: So, my boss encouraged me to reach out, then I poked around and finally got, somebody who would talk to me over there about something other than a different gateway. And a couple of month's later of course, Andrew flew up and got me to everybody in Nashville. Brian, we have been working hand in hand, ever since, for dealers, from our integrated processing, rolling out our electronic check acceptance, you know couple of months down the road, and then also we have been working on PCI compliance.
Andrew: Now Madeline, just to kind of recap what you said... Obviously very good similarity between the companies, very customer-centric, very results driven and secondly that basically all good things because of Red Cheetah or because of Andrew Morgan. Is that what I heard? Is that correct?
Madeline: I am so sure that exactly what I said I just said that in way too many words.
[laughter] .
Andrew: You know what, I would just like to get it back to the focus of compliance, just making sure...
Madeline: And we are back here.
Andrew: Tell us little bit about, where we are with PCI compliance, what it means for the dealers, where is that right now.
Madeline: Sure. Of course, the latest is the July 1st deadline that the card associations have rolled out. The card associations being, VISA, Master card, Amex and Discover. First time in history, they all four come together, to make decisions together. And basically that deadline is stipulating that any business that processes, stores any kind of credit card information. Which would mean any of our dealers that have a merchant id number must maintain a secure environment for their costumers' credit card data, and that they must attest their PCI compliance.
Andrew: OK. What does that all entail for the dealer themselves to do, in utilizing a system like Red Cheetah?
Madeline: First thing is, one of the great things... You all have worked to become PCI compliant. I'm going to kind of take two steps up from that, just to kind of let you know that it's not just what the dealer had to do. The banks have to attach their PCI compliance. Solveras has to prove their PCI compliance. Any piece of equipment, software, gateway that a merchant would use, they have to prove their PCI compliance.
And so in this trickle-down effect, over many, many years now, we are now down to the merchant level. So the merchant has also got to prove to their processing bank, whoever they're using, that they are PCI compliant, because all of those banks have to report back to the card associations on a monthly basis.
There are multiple steps involved with PCI compliance. One, you've got to determine your merchant level. Secondly, you've got to figure out your validation type, figure out which questionnaire you actually have to answer in order to fill out the appropriate questionnaire. Get that questionnaire filled out. Once you've done that, you may or may not be needing to do a venerability scan.
It kind of depends on how you're taking cards, what's going on there. If you're just using a terminal sitting out on a desk and customers are walking in, that's one kind of compliance issue. If you're actually taking cards over the Internet, through a software, that's a different set of rules and regs. And then sometimes, at that point, you may have to actually submit an attestation of compliance.
So you can't do kind of a broad-range, "Everybody's gotta do the same thing". There are steps you go through. You've got to determine each one as you go down the line, and then follow whichever set of regulations you fall into once that previous step has been determined.
Andrew: OK. Well, Madeline, thank you very much for your continued partnership and dedication to the Red Cheetah environment and the Red Cheetah dealers. We absolutely love having you as a partner. We value what you do for our dealers and thank you very much for the time today.
Madeline: Thank you for having me.
Steve: Thank you, Madeline.
Madeline: Thanks.
[music]
Steve: Let's move on into...
Andrew: Let's move on into what? What's new at Red Cheetah?
Steve: Let's do that.
Andrew: Tell me a little about Outpost. Where are we with that?
Steve: So, Outpost is about six months behind schedule. We want to go ahead and be upfront about that. Actually, just kidding. We're looking...
Andrew: Should be sometime in 2015.
Steve: Yeah, Andrew has told all of our programmers that if they don't make the December 1st deadline, that they should be looking for other employment, so it's real serious.
Andrew: I've only blown up one car so far. Just a threat.
Steve: Yeah.
Andrew: I mean, it was an accident.
Steve: Well, you caught a few tires on fire as well. It was pretty intimidating.
Andrew: I mean, there's accidentally glass in the parking garage. I can't help that.
[laughter]
Steve: Well, overall, we are all as a team behind this. It's not just the programming team. We also have, like John Mattson for example, who handles all of our support videos. He's going to be actively involved. I mean, Brian Ernst, on the system director's side. Our dealer adviser is Jim Rowan, being a part of that and also our dealer community, that all will be involved in helping us roll this thing out in a very pragmatic fashion.
But overall, we're still looking very good for December 1st. We're behind it. Our time-lines show that we are on target and we'll continue to try to even get ahead of that time-line to make sure that there's some buffer, but we're good so far on December 1st and we'll keep our dealer community posted.
Andrew: I believe I'm the only one here who actually has nothing to do with it.
Steve: Which will help us actually achieve that goal. So I think overall that's a good thing.
Andrew: It is.
Steve: So, dealer community...
Andrew: You're welcome.
Steve: You can feel a lot better. There you go.
[laughter]
Andrew: I'm here for the community.
Steve: Yeah, you are.
Andrew: Or, in this case, not there.
Steve: And the community.
Andrew: For the community. Yeah. A very, very exciting launch of www.Coalition360.com. Where are we with that?
Steve: So, we're launching, all I can say is, very, very soon. We actually have to, because we actually have some print ads going out with a lot of links back to the site. So, overall we're very excited. All this energy from Coalition is going to kind of be captured on the site. We thought it would make a lot of sense, rather than build it into www.RedCheetah.com. Let's do it completely separate.
Andrew: Now for our new viewers or anyone who hasn't been exposed to Coalition, maybe a little recap to the dealers that are listening. What is Coalition?
Steve: So Coalition is an awesome gathering of our dealers, in a format that's different. We really tried to take a different tact when it comes to how we educate. Certainly a dealer coming to Coalition is going to learn a lot about Red Cheetah.
Andrew: Right.
Steve: They're going to learn a lot about the capabilities, what's coming down the pipeline. But also, too, we've spent a lot of time coming up with workshops that will give our dealers the benefit of going right back to their dealership and implementing new ideas.
For example, we're definitely talking a lot about cultural engineering, looking at how dealers can really engineer their culture to outlive themselves. We're going to be talking about leadership 2.0. We're going to be talking about how to use LinkedIn to bolster our dealer's individual brands and, in addition too, their dealership brands.
So, overall, we're all about helping build generations of stronger dealers, and we feel that the way we're going at it is helping. And we're learning a lot. And this will be, what, number three?
Andrew: This will be number three.
Steve: Right. So we're excited about it. What are the dates?
Andrew: February two, three and four...
Steve: Right.
Andrew: ...Here in Austin, Texas. The worldwide conglomerate, nationwide, international headquarters...
Steve: That's right.
Andrew: ...Of Red Cheetah. So it's going to be an exciting...
Steve: It's exciting. And definitely check out the videos. I think the videos with our dealers talking about their Coalition experience says it all.
Andrew: And that's going to be on www.Coalition360.com as well as www.RedCheetah.com or is that just going to be on the Coalition site?
Steve: Yeah, it's going to be on Coalition, Andrew. And we're going to basically have pictures from Coalition '09 and also Coalition '10. We're also going to be having all the information about Coalition '11, as you mentioned February 2nd, 3rd, and 4th.
Andrew: 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, correct.
Steve: We'll be there as well.
Andrew: That's 2011.
Steve: Yeah. And so our dealers can very easily log in and register and be a part of the action. It's a lot of fun. Guaranteed.
Andrew: Very nice. It's going to be a good time.
Steve: Where are our upcoming conferences? What's happening?
Andrew: Well, I know we're going to be at the IS group meeting June 2nd through the 4th.
Steve: Right.
Andrew: I believe in Denver, Colorado. Mark Camp, our oldest sales rep, both by age and tenure...
[laughter]
Steve: I just got to appreciate that.
Andrew: Love you Mark. Mark's 29.
Steve: He's really 34.
Andrew: Not in the waist.
[laughter]
Steve: And more good shots. I'm sorry, Mark. You had the fat jokes are now extended to you as well. Welcome to the club.
Andrew: Exactly. Bull talk for a man that has a thinner waist than me. But anyway. The one after that is the S.P. Richards Advantage Business Conference. This is one of our most anticipated and highly, highly exciting shows that we go to every year. S.P. and Elaine Bragg-Dylan and D. King put on just a heck of a show.
Steve: They do.
Andrew: And treat us much better than we should be treated, at least in your case. So that's in Miami, the end of June. I believe the 23rd through the 25th or the 26th, around that time-frame.
Steve: 23rd through the 27th?
Andrew: Correct. And then Recharger, into the IT consumables. That's always in Las Vegas in around the middle of July, I believe the 14th and the 15th. So, we'll send a number of folks to that two-day show as well. So we really are pushing into the IT consumables world, working on a number of things for transactional managed print. Some really exciting things that you'll see coming down the pipeline here pretty soon.
Steve: That reminds me, too. Our integration with e-automate. We're reporting some really good news there. We're looking at, by August, really taking our integration to the next level. So, we'll be working very hard with the e-automate team there and Digital Gateway in Utah. And we're grateful that...
Andrew: Provo.
Steve: Provo, there you go. Great skiing options around that neck of the woods. Beautiful country.
Andrew: I have a business partner there that took me skiing with a blown out back one time.
Steve: Yeah, well, you insisted on skiing with a blown out back.
Andrew: I'm just saying.
Steve: That's Andrew when he's pegged. And also, too, when you decided to wrestle and you almost killed me putting snow in my face.
Andrew: The only problem with that story is the almost part. I had a moment of regret. I don't know why, folks, I'm sorry. Yeah, a little more snow and just a few more seconds.
Steve: Andrew is like skiing with my kid. You've got to be on guard. You never want to Andrew skiing behind you because he will form tackle you at 30 miles per hour.
Andrew: Skiing is a contact sport.
Steve: Yeah, and poles are used for defense.
Andrew: Or weapons, either way.
Steve: Yeah. So, note to self, never go skiing with Andrew.
Andrew: Exactly.
Steve: You'll live longer.
[laughter]
All right, so what's our joke of the month? Do you have one?
Andrew: Joke of the month.
Steve: Is it a clean joke, Andrew? It's important.
Andrew: I don't believe I know any clean jokes.
Steve: This is a PG-13 audience.
Andrew: So, these two muffins in the microwave.
Steve: OK.
Andrew: And it's starting to get really, really, really hot in there. And it's been quite some time and all of a sudden...
Steve: What kind of muffins?
Andrew: I believe they're blueberry.
Steve: OK, good.
Andrew: And one looks over at the other one and goes, "My gosh, it's hot in here." The other one looks over and goes, "Oh my god, a talking muffin!"
[laughter]
Steve: All right. Well, that wraps up Industry Live with the most ridiculous joke...
Andrew: That's a pretty good joke.
Steve: Whatever, but it's clean. We'll see you next time.
Andrew: Thanks.
[music]
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